MANILA, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Foreign direct investments (FDI) posted net inflows of 416 million U.S. dollars in August 2019, 45.1 percent lower than the 758 million U.S. dollars net inflows recorded in the same period in 2018, the Philippine central bank said on Monday.
According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) or the central bank of the Philippines, bulk of the FDI net inflows for the month were in the form of investments in debt instruments, consisting mainly of intercompany borrowings or lending between foreign direct investors and their subsidiaries or affiliates in the Philippines, which reached 263 million U.S. dollars from 534 million U.S. dollars.
The BSP said equity capital placements during the period came mostly from Japan, the United States, China's Hong Kong, Cayman Islands, and Singapore.
These investments were channeled mainly to manufacturing, real estate, financial and insurance, information and communication, and wholesale and retail trade industries, the BSP added.
On a cumulative basis, the BSP said FDI recorded net inflows of 4.5 billion U.S. dollars for the period January to August 2019, lower by 39.7 percent than the 7.5 billion U.S. dollars net inflows registered last year.
"The ongoing uncertainty in the global environment continued to dampen investor sentiment, which caused postponements in investment plans," the BSP said in a statement.
Equity capital placements during the period were sourced largely from Japan, the United States, Singapore, China, and South Korea, the BSP said.
